Opinion: Anchorage School District continues to target Title I schools

With its Dec. 17 decision, the Anchorage School Board elected to continue targeting Title I schools for closure. The decision resulted in closing and repurposing of Nunaka Valley Elementary and Lake Hood Elementary. This news comes after the singling out of another Title I school, Abbott Loop Elementary, for closure announced in December 2022. While no school closure is welcome news, let’s hope this targeting of Title I schools doesn’t become a holiday tradition.

Title I schools, according to the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, are those that receive federal funds for providing additional academic services and supplemental benefits to children who are identified as failing or at risk for failing to meet state academic standards. A school is designated Title I in a tiered program, starting with targeted assistance for schools with greater than 35% of its pupil population below poverty or greater than the district-wide average poverty level (whichever is lower).

The closing of Title I schools is a paradox that is hard to swallow. While those who want better results for children lobby for small class sizes to improve education results, the closures inevitably boost class size count for the very children who are in most need of individualized attention. ASD is making hard decisions due to an unpredictable amount of funding expected from state legislators and demographic shifts in migration, birth rates and school choice.

However, it’s abundantly clear ASD is playing politics through this “rightsizing” process by announcing seven schools for closure four days before a state and national election and placing a recently awarded national blue-ribbon school, Bear Valley Elementary, on the initial closure list. Then, in seemingly controlled chaos, after petitions and countless hours of community-sourced lobbying efforts, officials reduced the school closure list from seven to two.

Though ASD is now playing political hardball, its engagement in such means schools that don’t have the means and organization to survive are not going to. It takes significant lobbying efforts to convince the district that a school should stay open, and this means Title I schools will continue to be a target. Take, for example, Nunaka Valley Elementary, the very definition of a walkable neighborhood school and the centerpiece of the community that attracts families to the area. This marks its second time being on a closure list, and its principal position turned over in the 2024-25 school year. It has no active Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and hasn’t for quite some time. In a statistic sourced from the ASD Early Learning Department, it should be noted about 220 elementary-aged children live in the Nunaka Valley boundaries, but 120 have chosen to go elsewhere.

Title I schools are being passed up by parents who see better options in driving their children to the district’s charter and optional programs, and this is taking away energy from the neighborhood schools. While acknowledging school choice is a great benefit to many children, its effect is disproportionate and drains the best-resourced students and parents from the neighborhood schools, leaving the district with significantly less resources than it began. So, how can we make school choice work for all?

Can the district and community leadership activate and lift up parental involvement in Title I schools so they can advocate for themselves and help be part of the solution? A brief perusing of East Anchorage Title I school websites shows just below half have no information on a PTA or acknowledge that no PTA exists. Title I requires local school districts to allocate funds to engage parents. Is the district using that funding effectively? In theory, a more active parental base could thwart closure, lobby for consistent funding from the state, and improve student outcomes.

There are lots of things ASD does right. But if neighborhood school closures are expected to continue, we need to answer the question of why ASD is targeting Title I schools. ASD needs to recognize and address the structural issues and decision-making behind Title I school closures.

David Weber is a parent of two ASD students and is an executive board member of Northeast Community Council.

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